


The Blood-Red Incident

by SapphireHost



Series: Legends Live On [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Angst, Drama, Explicit Language, Friendship, Gen, Implied Relationships, Injury, Loss, M/M, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-01
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2018-02-04 08:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 19,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1773055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireHost/pseuds/SapphireHost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"In the room immediately adjacent to the foyer of the Sage's hospital, the doctor prepared the words he would use when he faced the patient's loved ones." When one of the four Links suffers an injury in battle, the rest of the team is left to lament in the possibility that one of their teammates might never be the same again. (Complete)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Worry

**Author's Note:**

> I hold the rights to none of these characters.
> 
> I would like to thank all of my friends who helped me by pre-reading my work (and putting up with my constant requests to pre-read my work). You guys rock!

         Blue held his head in his hands as he sat outside of the doctor’s office. Vio, who had never really been good at expressing empathy (Vio was sure that he understood what Blue was feeling, given that he had felt a similar sense of guilt about Shadow Link's injuries from that accursed mirror), stood awkwardly in a corner of the reception area, looking everywhere except for at Blue. Green sat directly to Blue’s right and had one arm around Blue in a comforting half-hug. Blue was aware of these things even with his bangs shielding most of his field of vision, and although he knew it was useless, he couldn’t stop himself from scanning the room for the familiar, red clothing of the person he knew so well. He silently cursed himself, again, for allowing his eyes to betray the truth that he felt deep in his soul.

           It’s his fault.

           It is entirely his fault.

           Vio took a deep breath, sucking up both the air and the courage his triforce is known for, and looked straight at Blue.

           “It’s not your fault.” Vio stated, once again showing off his talent for guessing what his clones were thinking, “There were monsters everywhere. Blaming yourself for what happened would be acting even stupider than you usually act.” Vio wasn’t trying to be mean, he just wanted Blue to react, to be angry, to be anything other than this. This wasn’t Blue. Blue was hot headed. Blue was full of spirit. Blue was passionate.  What Vio was looking at now was a boy with Vio’s hair, Red’s eye-color, Green’s piece of the triforce, and a tear-streaked face. If Vio could just get one reaction from Blue -an angry shout, a snide remark, or an instigating statement- then, maybe when the doctor inevitably walks in, everyone would at least feel a little more prepared.

           “Sure, Vio. Whatever.” Blue replied, tired of not knowing what was going on inside of the sterilized room behind him. Vio and Green shared a worried glance for about 15 seconds ( _It’s odd that I notice these things, but not the things that matter,_ Blue thought to himself) before Green tried to cheer Blue up.

           “He’s going to be alright Blue, after all-“ Green began but was quickly cut off.

           “I know that he’ll be alright.” Blue shouted, exasperated that his own clones didn’t know of his faith in their, and Red’s, strength. He knew that Red would pull out of this, and he knew that Red would probably run out of the room with his same child-like attitude and probably overreact to everything.

           “Well then what’s wrong?” Vio inquired. Leave it to Vio to know exactly what questions to ask, because Blue sure as Din didn’t know the answer. Luckily, the sound of a carriage outside, and the familiar shouting of a girl, distracted the Links. Zelda ran in completely out of breath, bunching the skirt of her dress just above her ankles to keep from tripping.

           “What happened? Why was the royal messenger so distressed? Is the Four Sword broken? Is the triforce lost?” Zelda quickly fired questions at the Links. When she received no answer, she quickly, but thoroughly, looked around the room. Suddenly, as though she had finally surveyed her surroundings enough to fully grasp the situation, she gasped, and slowly asked through the glove of the hand that covered her mouth, “What happened to Red?” Blue, who had looked up when Zelda had entered, quickly shot his head to the left to avoid eye contact with the princess. Green filled Blue’s old spot in the floor with his gaze, and Vio, who was the only one to make eye contact, answered.

           “You might want to sit down before I tell you this,” Vio warned, “This story is about as long as it is gruesome.” Zelda, not one to shrug off advice given by her purple-clad friend, quickly stole the closest chair. After she had settled, Vio began.

 


	2. Cause and Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vio explains to Zelda what happened.

“We had planned to train in water-based environments, so we were trying to think of a good spot.”

As Vio explained this, Blue remembered how, although Green wanted to train along the Zora River, Red preferred to stay closer to the town and suggested training in the fountain in Hyrule Town Square. Blue almost laughed at the memory of Red’s determined expression as he was arguing over the ridiculous idea, but Vio’s monotonous tone as he told the depressing story quickly sapped Blue of the small joy.

“There were a lot of good places to train,” Vio continued, “but we couldn’t seem to reach a unanimous decision.”

Green remembered that Red had been the only person who thought the river was a bad place to train. Red said something about how he had a weird feeling in his stomach about going too far away from town. _I dismissed it as mere excitement about the seasonal fair preparations,_  Green recalled. The realization that his dismissal of Red's instinct could be the reason that the Links were congregated in the foyer of the Sage’s hospital now, left Green’s entire body feeling heavier, but he couldn’t let Blue see his despair, there was no telling how it would affect this strange, different Blue.

“Since we couldn’t reach an agreement over which place to train on, I suggested we train a little at the archers’ range to warm up before water training. All of the locations that we had weeded the suggestions down to were either far away or dangerous for bystanders, so everyone agreed that it would be best to do some light, preliminary training to make sure that we were prepared for something to go wrong,”

At this, Blue gave a low, dark chuckle. _Something had gone wrong,_  Blue thought _And I sure as Din wasn’t prepared for it, nor do I think anything could have prepared me for… this. Besides, nobody actually agreed with you, Vio. You just argued the same point over and over again in a different way until everyone went along with your plan just to shut you up._ Vio, who had accurately guessed his clone’s thoughts, resisted the urge to shrug, roll his eyes, or glare at the boy in blue, mostly because Blue seemed to be getting a little of his spirit back.

“Unfortunately, the archers’ range was temporarily closed due to the seasonal fair, so, instead, we moved into the forest to try to find a good tree we could shoot at.” Vio explained, “However, during shooting practice, Green thought he heard a sound in the surrounding forestry, so we stopped. After about 2 minutes, we still didn’t hear anything, but Green thought it would be best to pack up and get ready to move to the river, so, despite the objections of Red and Blue, Green and I packed up all of the equipment and weapons.”

    “We had planned to train in water-based environments, so we were trying to think of a good spot.” 

    As Vio explained this, Blue remembered how, although Green wanted to train along the Zora River, Red preferred to stay closer to the town and suggested training in the fountain in Hyrule Town Square. Blue almost laughed at the memory of Red’s determined expression as he was arguing over the ridiculous idea, but Vio’s monotonous tone as he told the depressing story quickly sapped Blue of the small joy.

    “There were a lot of good places to train,” Vio continued, “but we couldn’t seem to reach a unanimous decision.”

    Green remembered that Red had been the only person who thought the river was a bad place to train. Red said something about how he had a weird feeling in his stomach about going too far away from town. _I dismissed it as mere excitement about the seasonal fair preparations._ Green recalled. The realization that his dismissal of Red's instinct could be the reason that the Links were congregated in the foyer of the Sage’s hospital now, left Green’s entire body feeling heavier, but he couldn’t let Blue see his despair, there was no telling how it would affect this strange, different Blue.

    “Since we couldn’t reach an agreement over which place to train on, I suggested we train a little at the archers’ range to warm up before water training. All of the locations that we had weeded the suggestions down to were either far away or dangerous for bystanders, so everyone agreed that it would be best to do some light, preliminary training to make sure that we were prepared for something to go wrong,”

    At this, Blue gave a low, dark chuckle. _Something had gone wrong._ Blue thought _And I sure as Din wasn’t prepared for it, nor do I think anything could have prepared me for… this. Besides, nobody actually agreed with you, Vio. You just argued the same point over and over again in a different way until everyone went along with your plan just to shut you up._ Vio, who had accurately guessed his clone’s thoughts, resisted the urge to shrug, roll his eyes, or glare at the boy in blue, mostly because Blue seemed to be getting a little of his spirit back.

    “Unfortunately, the archers’ range was temporarily closed due to the seasonal fair, so, instead, we moved into the forest to try to find a good tree we could shoot at.” Vio explained, “However, during shooting practice, Green thought he heard a sound in the surrounding forestry, so we stopped. After about 2 minutes, we still didn’t hear anything, but Green thought it would be best to pack up and get ready to move to the river, so, despite the objections of Red and Blue, Green and I packed up all of the equipment and weapons.”

     _That,_ Blue reflected, _had been our first mistake._

    “After all of our items had been packed, a loud shout erupted from the surrounding woods.”

    That battle cry currently haunted Green, Blue, and Vio, but they would never admit that. Especially not now. Not with the news poor Zelda was about to hear, and the pain and horror all of the people in the room were about to live, whether again or not.

    “Sword-wielding Goblins and Bokoblins fell from the treetops surrounding us. Luckily, Red and Blue had their swords equipped already, and were able to cover Green and I as we fished our swords from the equipment bags. We weren’t that far from the town, and since the majority of the enemies were appearing from the trees opposite the direction of the town, I assumed that they were originally on their way to attack Hyrule. I shouted at Red to run back to town to warn the watchmen and ask you to send some of the guards to help us,” Princess Zelda, upon being introduced as a minor character in the non-fiction, stiffened a little as Vio continued, “Red complied with my order and began to fight his way towards town. After about 30 seconds of fighting off the ambush, we heard a familiar scream.”

    Blue violently shuddered. The scream had been heart wrenching to him. _It had been high-pitched and lasted for about 5 seconds_ Blue recollected, slightly surprised at how he could accurately describe the scream. After all, he had only heard that scream once before, and yet Blue had instantly been able to recognize the owner. The only other time Blue had heard Red scream like that was in a previous fight, when Gufuu had grabbed Red and was reeling him in, in an attempt to eat him. It was the scream Red only used when he was in extreme danger. 

    Green showed no change at the mention of the scream. He couldn’t allow himself to. Not when Blue had such a powerful reaction to it. For some reason, Blue, who had always been the group’s source of determination, needed someone to be strong for him, so Green, naturally, assumed the role. But that’s not to say that the scream didn’t ring out in Green’s ears, and haunt, if not fuel, his regrets. It had been Green’s idea to pack up all the weapons. They would have been better prepared for the attack if Vio had his bow. If Blue had his hammer. If Red had his fire rod. The slingshot might only stun enemies, but it still could’ve helped. But no, Green had decided to pack everything when he should’ve known better.

    Vio had to pause at this part of the story to calm his nerves. He could feel his strength drain at the re-living of Red’s scream. Vio couldn’t help but feel at fault. It had been his idea to do preliminary training outside of town when the archer’s range had been closed, despite Red’s strange premonition about the horrors marching towards the town. However, Vio didn’t allow himself to feel self-pity for very long though, Zelda needed to hear the end of the story, and if anyone was going to tell Zelda what had happened to, technically speaking, 1/4th of her childhood friend, it was going to be another 4th, and if Vio was going to finish the story, it had to be before the doctor finished whatever doctors do in this situation. So Vio, once again, sucked up both air and courage, and continued.

    “At the scream, our adrenaline piqued. It took us approximately 35 seconds to mow through the goblins to get to the source of the scream. The scene in front of us when we did, however, was… horrendous is too kind a word, but I can’t really think of a better one right now.” Vio paused, “Are you sure that you want… all of the details?” He asked Zelda.

    Zelda had been fascinated at the story-telling abilities of her friend. Captivated in the purple one’s tale, and being the wielder of Wisdom, she almost had no choice but to violently nod. Zelda, despite not sleeping for a week at the vivid depiction Vio implanted in her mind, never once regretted her decision.

    Vio sighed, took a deep breath, and looked over to Green. Vio didn’t need to say anything. Green covered Blue’s ears.

    “The first thing I noticed was the blood.”

    That’s all it took to have tears brim Blue’s eyes. Green, who realized that Blue could still hear the purple Link, led Blue outside, so that he wouldn’t have to hear anymore. Once Blue was safely outside, Vio took a deep breath and continued.

    “It wasn’t a pool of blood, per se, more like a coat. A coat of blood on the ground surrounding Red, the blood had to be fresh, because it was dark with oxygen, but it was strange to see all of the grass seemingly floating in the coat. Red was kneeling down in pain, facing to, what was then, our left, with his visible arm wrapped around his stomach. He had his head down in pain and was biting his lip for the same reason. A bokoblins, covered in clothing that appeared to be stained with the red blood of human and the black ash of fallen goblins, towered over him, holding his blood-bathed sword high, and preparing for the final blow. The scene could’ve been a painting at a museum, Zelda. The trees surrounding the clearing that the hero and the enemy were found in, were covered with slashes from swords finishing a long-held vendetta. Some of the pink flowers with yellow-edged petals and pure white centers had fallen to the ground in a circle around the clearing, and the bokoblin had an evil, malicious smirk and black eyes that sparked with vengeance and hatred as he prepared for the final blow. It was a sight that demanded, and received, terror, wonder, and awe. As you can imagine, the moment that Blue merely glimpsed the scene, he rushed the bokoblin. Green, not being one to drop a fight, joined him. I ran towards Red, knowing that, despite being the most child-like of our group, Red wouldn’t have been defeated if something wasn’t wrong. I brought the equipment bag, which also stored our first aid kit, to Red’s front in an attempt to help him.”

    Vio involuntarily paused. Zelda waited patiently for her friend to gather his thoughts; she knew that Vio would try to stall for as long as possible, but she was fine with waiting. Besides, she definitely didn’t want to rush a story this powerful.

    “The first thing I noticed, strangely,” Vio commented, “was the paleness of Red’s face. It was almost like looking at a white-colored plate in a stained glass window when sunlight shines directly through it, when the only color is the pale, almost translucent yellow of the sun. Red’s tunic, surprisingly, didn’t appear too damaged. Only drenched. I guess when you wear red, blood doesn’t show very easily. The only place Red’s tunic seemed to be damaged was his right shoulder.” Vio took a deep breath, and chuckled darkly, “I guess I was almost right, about his arm being wrapped around his stomach, but, although Red’s left, upper arm angled towards his stomach, where it should have continued, had it been wrapped around Red’s stomach that is, it bent at an approximate 90-degree angle towards his other arm, where Red’s left hand was clutching the side of his right shoulder. Red’s other arm lay on the ground, where the Four Sword, although in a loose grip, somehow continued resting in its owner’s hand.”

    Somewhere outside of the room where the story was being told, someone broke down in tears with his leader hovering over him. The weeping boy wiped his own tear-streaked face with clean hands that felt as red as the only connected hand of the sobbing one’s dismembered beloved. In the room immediately adjacent to the foyer of the Sage’s hospital, the doctor prepared the words he would use when he faced the patient’s loved ones.


	3. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Links learn their friends' current situation, they return home and go their separate ways to process all that's happened.

    It wasn’t that Princess Zelda couldn’t find any words. She found words -coherent, thought-quenching words- floated around in her head, but whenever she tried to focus on one, it seemed to dissolve into an unreachable part of her wise, scrutinizing mind. Vio, sensing that the princess probably wouldn’t like the gory details about his blue clone’s reaction to the injury, quickly dressing Red’s wound in gauze, immersing the arm in ice water (originally, they had plenty to keep themselves hydrated and cool during training), and carrying Red’s unconscious –but still breathing- form to the hospital, finished the story by relaying only the most important facts about those events to her.

            Blue, sensing that he would be recalled into the foyer soon, began composing himself. Green, who had no idea how to comfort a lamenting version of himself, let alone Blue, in this situation, allowed Blue to calm down on his own. The hot-headed hero appreciated this. He hates pity when it is directed at him.

    The doctor took one last look at the patient before entering the foyer. The figure of the red-clad boy with his eyes closed and hair tousled in a secret technique known only to the hat, looked very peaceful, not at all like he had been in a battle only moments before, as his identical quadruplets had explained. The doctor took a deep breath, and entered the foyer of the Sage’s hospital.

    The doctor didn’t get a chance to introduce himself to the two bodies, a boy identical to his patient (the only difference being the purple garb that the boy wore) and the princess, before a third person, another identical boy dressed in a different color than the patient or the violet boy, skidded inside and barraged the poor doctor with questions. 

            “What’s going on with Red?” The boy with clothes that matched his eyes asked, “Can I see him? Will he be all right? Is he awake? Are you making sure that he’s comfortable?” A fourth boy, this time in green garb, ran in after the blue boy and quickly restrained his clone.

            “Sorry,” the boy in green quickly apologized, “we’re very worried about our friend.” The doctor, naturally, understood the boy in blue’s concern. He had seen it in many families, including his own. The doctor gave Blue an empathetic smile and motioned for everyone to sit down. It didn’t take long for the Links to catch on, but the princess, understandably given her Triforce, was a little tired of being patient to receive information.

            “Well, don’t keep us waiting.” Zelda said as she stood up and put both hands on her hips. The doctor, acknowledging the princess with a quick bow, responded a little more-than-casually.

            “I’d never dream of it, milady. But…” here, the doctor paused and bit his lip contemplating the best way to go about this. “Would you like the bad or the good news first?”

            _Bad move,_ Vio thought.

            The boy in blue practically leaped out of the wooden seat he had chosen and tackled the poor doctor.

            “What bad news? Isn’t everything all right with Red? Is he sick? Is he breathing? Did you let him-“ Blue snarled at the doctor, but was cut off when Vio stepped between Blue and the doctor, and the doctor regained his personal space back in the same procedure as when he first walked into the room (only with Vio leading the way instead of Green and with the smart Link telling the bluer one to shut up, calm down, and sit).

    Blue, for the third time that day, regained his composure and forced himself to step away from the doctor, while mumbling a half-hearted apology. Vio then turned to the doctor, nodded, and returned to his seat. The doctor, catching his cue to continue, cleared his throat to start doing just that.

    “Well, the good news is,” he began, “your brother has finally stabilized.” The relief in the room was pungent. The boy left exhausted through his sudden attack grew about 3 inches, the leader relaxed (which caused him to lose about three inches), Vio stood there stoically (which was his way of showing relief), and Zelda sat down again. “However…” here, the man in scrubs needed, as he does all too often, to address the hardest part of his career path; administering bad news in a way that was both quick, and as painless as possible. “We’re going to need to bring in some more… advanced doctors.” Vio raised his eyebrow at the doctor suspiciously from his chair while the other three friends hadn’t fully registered the words from the physician through their relief.

    “What kind of advanced doctors?” Vio asked. The man in scrubs shifted from his left foot to his right foot and cleared his throat to make sure that everyone could hear him.

    “Well, we’ve currently got your friend in a healing shroud. Do you understand what that is?” The physician began. Everyone nodded. It was a basic principle in their biology class. When doctors’ patients have injuries resulting from sharp, solid objects, the doctor uses level-1 magic to create a clear, magical, and ethereal bubble. This bubble shrouds the patient and filters all air entering it, to keep airborne bacteria from reaching the open wound, while still giving the patient the normal mixture of air needed to live.  “Good, glad to hear that the school system still works. Now, just because it’s called a ‘healing shroud’ doesn’t mean that it can fix every-“ The doctor began to explain but was cut off by Blue.

    “We just said that we understand what a frickin’ healing shroud is, so would you just hurry and tell us why you need special doctors to heal Red?” Blue asked, irritated at the patronizing tone the member of the medical staff was using and worried about why he was using it.

    “Yes, of course, sorry.” The interrupted man quickly apologized, followed by an eye-roll by Blue. After hearing that Red was stable, Blue apparently gained some, but not all, of his spirit back. “Well, you see,” the doctor attempted to continue, but paused rather often in an attempt to gather the correct words, “your quadruplet’s arm… it… I don’t know if it can be… well… reattached…” Blue’s head and eyes snapped towards the doctor. His grief snapped back to him.

    “Are you saying… Red might only have one arm for the rest of his life?” Green asked, eyes wide with fear. The doctor nodded.

    “I’m going to bring in a professional from my home town of Kakariko Village. She’s the best in the business, and if she can’t reattach, I think you said it was Red, Red’s arm, then… there’s nothing I can do.” The empathizing, scrubbed man informed the heroes and princess. The room allowed the people a minute of silence to soak in the news and imagine. For Vio, this minute was spent thinking about how he would break the news to his roommate and the types of books he should pick up on the subject of medicine. Green pictured teaching Red how to fight with only one arm. _It would be a challenge, for sure_ , Green admitted, _but I'm not one to back down from a challenge_. Zelda determined how she would go about treating Hyrule’s future medical guest (the more preferable path than to see her childhood friend crippled) and also all the medical experience the Hyrulean doctors could learn from the professional. Blue could only think about when Red woke up. Knowing Red, he’d probably do something strange. He’d probably say something about being a pirate and ask Blue for an eyepatch, a stuffed parrot, and a fake hook for his... right side. What would the arm-less space be called? A nub?  A shoulder? The arm-less space? 

    Zelda stood up after a minute of tense silence. “Thank you for explaining, sir. Now, I understand that patients of combat wounds aren’t allowed visitors for one day and we surely won't be able to visit him while he is being treated, but Kakariko is a two-day trip from here, so we’ll be back tomorrow to visit Red. We’ll take our leave now. Goodbye, Doctor, and thank you for your patience.” Zelda curtsied, then spun on her heels and exited the Sages’ Hospital, quickly followed by three identical boys and their rushed goodbyes. The four friends climbed into Zelda’s waiting carriage, and began the ride to the house that the heroes shared outside of Hyrule.

    The Links’ house could be classified as a medium between modest and luxurious, thanks to donations from Zelda’s “Houses for Heroes” foundation, which gave funds to heroes to build houses outside of places where they’d be harassed by fans and neighborhood enemies. When the carriage arrived, Blue noticed how pretty the house was due to Reds’ influence. The flower garden (which was ordered by colors so that it looked like a rainbow of flowers on either side of the door, with purple lavender closest to the door, and red zinnias furthest from it), the smooth white paint, (chosen because, according to Vio, white basically contains all of the colors inside it, which to Red showed unity when painted onto the house), and the huge slide from the playground in the backyard, which Red begged for weeks, and worked as a landscaper for just as long, to obtain. The clones stepped out of the carriage, thanked Zelda for giving them a ride, and walked into the one-story, white house, but not before a certain purple hero noticed that the Zinnias looked a little withered.

    Immediately entering the house is a foyer of sorts. Where there are three doors, the right of which leads to the guest room and the closest door to the backyard from the front door, the left door leads to the main residents’ bedrooms, and the one on the wall directly opposite the front door leads to the kitchen and other living areas. Vio excused himself from the group and entered the central door to grab a bite to eat from the kitchen before checking on his roommate, Blue entered the left doorway, mumbling about needing to get something, and Green wanted to go play on the swing set in the backyard, so he entered the right door.

    Green swung contentedly in the backyard. The hypnotizing, rhythmic motion of the swings had been his favorite place to calm down since they had been built. Red had been kind enough to paint the framework of the swingset emerald green after learning about the leader's preference. As the swing's arc grew wider and higher, Green let his thoughts wander to the past days’ events. He still felt like it was his fault, but refused to allow regret to intermingle with guilt any longer. Red is stable, and what’s done is done. _Besides, if Red finds out that I’m thinking such sad thoughts, he’ll kill me. Red doesn’t like when I_ _criticize myself, especially on the swing set._ Green thought, making sure to carefully avoid using past tense language. As Green's thoughts danced and marched through his head, the swing continued its arc, unhindered by heavy emotions or deep thoughts.

    Blue walked into Red’s room and, after turning on the lights, felt a pang of sadness. Red had mentioned to his hot-headed clone while getting ready for training that he had bought a surprise, and there it was, sitting on the venetian red, fabric-velvet sheets; a blue gift bag with gradation from sapphire blue in the lower right corner to robin’s egg blue in the upper left corner, and turquoise-colored tissue paper. Blue smiled and shook his head as he approached the small gift. _Leave it to Red to find the best gift bag in all of Hyrule,_ Blue thought as he sat down on the bed, facing the door, next to his gift. Not wanting to open the gift just yet, the spirited hero moved the gift bag onto his lap and turned it around. That’s when he first noticed the gift tag. It wasn’t spectacular, just a plain, white tag attached to the blue handles of the gift by a lighter blue ribbon. In black lettering, the tag read, “I know I stress you out, so here’s something to help! –Red”, which only twisted the boy’s guilt into an agonizing, left corkscrew. Blue slowly opened the gift, careful not to tear any of the tissue paper, and retrieved his present. Inside the bag was a ske blue stress ball with the words “My Blue hero” printed onto it. Blue didn’t quite understand when tears flooded his eyes, a smile grew on his face, and his stomach knotted in anger. _That little creep…_ Blue thought as he lay back and imagined what he’d do if the aforementioned creep had handed him the present in person.

    While Green was entering the backyard, Vio was sitting in the kitchen with an apple in his right hand and the other arm resting on the table, reminding himself of the entirety of the day’s events, cringing at the scream and releasing a shuddering sigh at the sharp imagery of the scene that the uninjured team had burst into after the scream. It hadn’t been easy to calm Blue down. His emotions had ranged from paralyzed shock when he first saw Red to unadulterated fury after his slow mind fully registered what had happened, finishing with… whatever that show at the hospital featured. Vio’s head snapped back to the present, the lack of presence of edible parts of an apple in his hand, and the realization that it was time for Vio’s roommate to know what had happened.

    While Blue was confused over the effects of the gift he had been given, Vio was standing in the hallway, in front of his violet door (the shade of which Red called True Purple). He wondered how he was going to tell his roommate about Red. It’s not like they had been very close –in fact, there is still a slight suspicion in the household that Red is scared of the collected clone’s roommate- but it’s not like they avoided each other. _In fact,_ Vio recollected, _I think he even pitched in with 50 rupees towards getting Red’s playground. Now, where he got those rupees, I’ve got no idea._ The two boys were more like friendly acquaintances than anything else. It’s not like Vio didn’t know how to explain the status of the childish clone, after all he’d spent the entire ride home in his head, planning what he was going to say, but the collected clone had never been very good with empathy. _He better have a candle lit in there,_ Vio thought, in an attempt to stall the inevitable, _if I’m nice enough not to install electric lighting in my room (speaking of electric lighting, I really need to ask Princess Zelda about the fundamentals behind her invention) then he should be nice enough to allow me to see my own room._ With this thought, Vio opened the purple door quickly, entered and closed it just as quickly behind him. 

    “Before you say anything,” Vio quickly interrupted the silence, “I’ve got some very bad news to tell you.”

    Shadow looked up from his laptop at the blond. 

    “Sure thing, cutie.” He said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. _This,_ Vio thought, sighing at today's nickname and the news he was about to reveal,  _is not going to bode well._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I'm not good at Chapter titles yet? :D
> 
> I also don't know what's happening with the formatting. I'm sorry if it's a tiny bit inconsistent, but I honestly have no clue how to fix it.


	4. Damage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few Links learn or recall that not all damage is physical.

             _Vio’s probably telling Shadow what happened right about now,_ the boy with blue clothes concluded as he walked through the hallway with his new present in hand. He glanced at the shared room, remembering (as he does every time he passes the purple door) exactly how Shadow Link had come to stay at the other Links’ house.

            When the mirror had been shattered, a considerable amount of damage forced itself onto the young, newly found hero. However, since the boy’s heart proved itself to be filled with a powerful type of courage and kindness that are only shown through self-sacrifice, the mirror’s destruction did not necessarily signal the violet-haired one’s. The maidens sensed this fact. Through their powers, the women saw the shadow’s bravery, and resolved to help the fifth link. The light that Shadow later recounted as his salvation, the other Links knew as the light of a teleporting fairy. However, all eight maidens were forced to send a fairy in order to reach Shadow through the faraway, dark clouds, so naturally the effect of the light was amplified.

            The dark-clothed boy’s injuries were inflicted through two nodes: being removed from the world that shares his name, and the severance from his home in that very world. Knowing that the boy’s survival was endangered through his inability to experience solar energy, the maidens moved the boy to the enclosed altar, and blocked any and all light that entered the room until the Links returned.

            When the four blond heroes returned to the altar, they were in good spirits, as they deserved. They began to recount their tale to the maidens (a fondness of tales tends to grow in the wise), and up until the Tower of Winds, the story was told with the same invigorating energy that young boys possess. However, when the tale reached the section about the mirror's destruction, the boy's faces grew grave. Dejectedly, the clones (mainly Vio) began to tell the maidens about their fallen comrade, but were quickly interrupted by the maidens, who informed the boys of their recovering friend’s whereabouts. The heroes, after learning the news, quickly ran towards what had then been their new teammate with Vio leading (guilt and hope are known to quicken reflexes when the feeling(s) is/are about to end), Green (who couldn’t wait to start anew with his new teammate) following Vio, and finishing with Blue and Red (Blue’s only cause for ending second-to-last at the time, came in the form of Red, who was wary at approaching Shadow, cowering behind his tunic and slowing him down). When the four had finally reached their fifth, they found him slumped in a corner, covered with cuts, blood, and gore. The hot-headed hero quickly covered the innocent hero’s eyes while the leader called for the maidens and the clever hero ran towards their new teammate. The yellow maiden quickly entered the room at the leader’s calls, noticed the clever hero’s actions, walked towards the collected Link, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

            “Do not worry, young hero,” the yellow maiden informed the aforementioned boy, “the fact that his wounds are now visible only shows that he is recovering. Unfortunately, he cannot stay here for much longer. If the shrine does not receive light, it will lose power.” Vio nodded his head. Shadow was afraid of light. To this day, it remains his only fear. The shadow mirror was once the boundary between having Shadow’s fear be rational or irrational. When the shadow mirror was intact, the light could not hurt him, and there was no need for the reflection to avoid light, but now that Shadow had shattered the boundary, light could be deadly to the injured, black-garbed hero. If Shadow was going to survive, light must never reach his wounds. However, the altar also serves as a boundary, which keeps Ganon from returning with his demons. The strength of the altar could not be compromised for the sake of the injured boy. Shadow’s removal from the altar to a place where he could recover and where light could not reach him would be necessary. Vio had no doubt in his mind when he proposed to share a room with his friend, and his fellow colors had no anxiety about allowing it. 

            Vio tended to Shadow’s wounds after the quintuplet had been moved, but refused to allow the boy out of his room, stating that one could never know when light would try and reach the healing comrade.

            Shadow’s condition had improved dramatically in the first week, but to this day, he still couldn’t handle much stronger than a candle. It didn’t seem to faze the black-garbed boy, though. Shadow was used to avoiding the light, and at least now he had a place that would accept him as an equal.

            Blue smirked at the memory of being invited to assist in healing the newest member of the household, and recalled watching with awe at Vio’s skills in healing. The hot-headed one could not, and never would, deny that Vio had skill in the trade, and, now that he thought about it, was thankful that Vio had been the first to reach Red. Blue would have certainly panicked, and Green would have wasted time by waiting for the group’s healer’s instructions before acting.

            When Blue snapped out of his thoughts, he was standing in an open doorway and looking at the pirate ship playground that Red had worked towards so desperately. He could see his leader swinging on the swing set that had been placed so that the swings ran parallel with the ship. _Red said he put the swings there to give the impression that the swinger was a dolphin in the ocean,_ Blue recollected while watching his green counterpart swing back and forth. The monkey bars (which are found under the main deck, where the sleeping quarters would usually situate) had always been Blue’s favorite part of the playground. With monkey bars, you don’t have the luxury of momentum, like on Green’s swing set, or another person’s weight, like on Red’s favorite part of the playground, the seesaw. All you have on the monkey bars to propel you forward comes in the form of a person’s own brute strength. 

            Watching his leader brought memories of Red back to the blue one’s mind. Images of Red begging Blue to be his partner on the seesaw, hassling Vio (who would, more often than not, be found reading in the crows nest at the top of the rope course) for the same reason, and either pushing or being pushed by Green on the swing set. Red loved this playground. He thought it to be a place where the Links could have fun without feeling the need to compete with each other, and, for the most part, it worked well.

            Blue thought about joining Green on the swings. Blue thought about helping Vio comfort Shadow. Blue thought about going back to his room and sleeping this horrible day to its end.

            After about 15 minutes of thinking, Blue turned, went back in the house, passed Vio’s room, passed his own room, and entered Red’s room again.

            Shadow’s legs buckled under the weight of the news, and he felt himself lower to a sitting position on the bed. Vio walked up and sat down next to Shadow.

            “You didn’t need to give me such a vivid description of Red’s dismembered arm, Vio.” Shadow critiqued in a voice barely above a whisper, “I think I can imagine an unattached limb just fine without a detailed report.” Vio forced himself not to chuckle darkly at the comment. Same old Shadow, always trying to use commentary to deflect his emotions.

            “I did warn you that you wouldn’t want to stand,” the purple-clothed boy retorted, “It was your choice to be a rebel and not listen.”

            “Yeah, but… how could I have ever guessed that your story would have such a morbid twist?” Shadow asked.

            “You probably could have inferred it from-“ Vio began, but was cut off by a sharp elbow jabbing into his upper arm.

            “Shut up, Smarty. I’m not in the mood for one of your lectures.” Shadow interrupted. Vio’s frown deepened. Usually, Shadow would be laughing at the probability of another lecture about logic and conclusions.

            “What’s wrong, Shadow? Red is stable, isn’t he? So there’s nothing you need to-“ Vio, for the second time, was cut off, once again, by something sharp.

            “You want to know what’s wrong?” Shadow began while standing up, “I’ll tell you what’s wrong. I have no way to see Red, so I don’t know that he’s stable. Red’s stability is only a possibility until I see it, but even if I wanted to, I couldn’t visit Red. It’ll be daytime by the time that the hospital opens, and the hospital stops allowing visitors a couple of hours before dark! I’ll never get to see Red myself, so how do I know that he’s okay‽ I can’t, because I’m allergic to the bloody sun!”

            Vio was slightly taken aback by the sudden outburst. Shadow might not be as collected as the clone who wore Shadow’s hair color, but that’s not to say that Vio’s roommate had as bad a temper as Blue.

            “It’s a little more than an allergy, Shadow. You can’t help it.” Vio tried to console his roommate.

            “But it’s not just the sun, Vio! It’s every type of light greater than 13 lumens! I can’t even have a flashlight pointed at me without being hurt. I still have to wait to be fully healed before I can risk getting a midnight snack with more than a candle to light my way, and now Red’s in the hospital and Nayru knows how scared he must be, and I can’t even go see him!” Shadow shouted at his startled roommate.

            As the one-sided argument continued, Blue sat with his back to the purple door and his head resting against it, holding the stress ball in his hand. After cleaning every square inch of Red’s room like Red always wanted him to help with, he had started towards the kitchen to begin preparing dinner, but the argument had stopped him. 

            What really stung about the argument, though, was the fact that Shadow realized how scared Red must be before Blue did. Blue tossed his new toy in the air and caught it, while listening to Shadow rage and Vio counter on the other side of the door, and that’s, for the most part, how Vio found him 30 minutes later at about 9:30. When Vio opened the door to leave, a sleeping Blue fell into the room and a stress ball fell from his hand.

            Vio and Shadow stood silently staring at Blue. Shadow had run out of steam 3 minutes before, and was apologizing the entire time up until Vio had turned to leave, so the silence was bliss to the purple clothed boy. After about 15 seconds of staring, Shadow and Vio both moved at the same time. Vio took the sleeping one’s feet, while Shadow took the sleeping boy’s head. Both of the purple-themed boys (the one with purple hair especially) were very careful when taking their sleeping clone to the venetian red fabric-velvet sheets. After Blue was tucked in to Red’s bed (and the strange toy that had fallen out of his hand was stationary on the nightstand), both of his movers silently tip-toed out of the room, closed the door, and left to go make dinner by candlelight for all of the conscious Links.

            Blue woke up with a start and immediately recognized that it was midnight. Groggily, the boy in blue stood from the bed and made his way to the kitchen. However, the kitchen was completely silent for the boy when he entered it, which was odd. That’s when Blue remembered what had happened earlier that day, and with tears in his eyes, the boy left the room to return to his bed alone.

            It started two weeks after they had saved Princess Zelda.

            Blue woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of an empty stomach. The hungry Link groaned. _But the kitchen’s so far away…_ the groggy hero thought to himself with a groan. Blue lay in bed for a few minutes to allow the war between sleepiness and hunger rage. Eventually, hunger won the duel, and Blue forced himself to stand and trudge towards the kitchen, not bothering to unfold his hat or tunic for a simple trip. As Blue entered the kitchen, an average amount of light hit him in the face, however since his eyes were dilated to see through total darkness, the startled hero thought a bright light hit him in the face. After his eyes adjusted, Blue noticed a shape sitting at the table.

            A familiar, red shape,

            Red sat at the table hugging his legs to his chest. Since the boy’s hat was removed, the tousled mess that was Red’s blonde hair covered most of his face, but it was obvious to anyone entering the room that the boy was weeping. Blue stood awkwardly in the doorway, still holding the door wide open, when the sitting boy looked up and noticed him.

            “Umm… I was just getting… I mean…” Blue sputtered, attempting to come up with an excuse that accurately explained his presence in the dining area. Red sat there for a minute with blonde bangs parting to reveal tear-filled eyes and a face stained in the same manner, not quite sure what to say. The red-clothed hero had learned to be more cautious about his outbursts, especially in front of Blue.

            Blue sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. “What’s wrong?” he asked exasperatedly as he moved to sit down next to his ruby-colored teammate. The spirited hero knew better than anyone that Red wore his emotions on his sleeve, to the point where even the smallest of actions could make Red bawl, and usually, the tempered hero didn’t care what had upset his short teammate. However, as previously mentioned, Red wore his heart on his sleeve, so to be crying alone, and in the middle of the night no less, was abnormal.

            “I-I had a nightmare.” Red managed in-between sobs. Blue internally groaned. “I was walking through the house, but a nightmare version of it, like the one we saw in Elne’s hometown.” Twisted, dark, checker-board streets, houses with walls that bent at odd angles, and dead, mangled trees mark the nightmare known as the shadow world. “Well, there was a shadow monster again, who smelled like smoke and blood despite not having any physical form, chasing me, and Vio tried to protect me from the monster, but the monster just ended up possessing Vio. Then, the Vio-monster-thing started chasing after me, and you tried to stop Vio, but he killed you with your sword, and then I woke up.” Blue sat perfectly still and stayed silent using the same level of skill. Red copied Blue.

            “…again?” Blue asked.

            “This might not be the first time I’ve had that dream… in fact, this is probably the fourteenth time I’ve had it.” Red cautiously responded, while staring at the floor. After counting how many weeks are in 14 days, the taller clone raised his eyebrow.

            “Have you been trying to handle it on your own in the kitchen for an entire…” _what would Vio say?_ Blue thought, _…I just had it…_ “fortnight?” _That’s it._

            Red nodded his head slowly as more tears began to fill his eyes. Blue stayed quiet staring at Red, while deciding what to do, and inevitably groaned.  _Green’s too heavy a sleeper, There’s no way I’m gonna be the poor sap who tries to wake up Vio,_ Blue shivered as he re-experienced the horror of Red’s last early morning adventure, _and there’s no way Red will fall back asleep otherwise._ Blue’s thoughts paused, _…dang it._

            “You know, if you’re not going to be able to sleep otherwise,” Blue began, scratching the back of his hatless head in embarrassment and looking away from Red from a similar purpose, “you can try sleeping in my bed tonight.”

            The little link paused, “…alone?”. His taller clone groaned while he closed his eyes, noticed the hopeful tone that the sniffling boy’s voice held, and blushed like an idiot.

            “Of course not.”

            Red jumped from his chair, surprising Blue with his speedy recovery, while also effectively sending the boy and his chair in a struggle against gravity, and bolted towards the doorway with the excitement of a small child on Christmas Day. Blue, after getting over his shift in balance and stunned state, chased after Red, while quietly screaming to shut up.

            And every night after that day, Red and Blue would fall asleep in separate rooms, wake up at midnight, meet in the kitchen, talk for about 10 minutes, and then fall asleep in Blue’s room together. Whether the rest of the team noticed was a mystery, due to the fact that the other Links did not bring up any topic relating to the nightly ritual. If the rest of the team knew, then it certainly did not bother them. If they knew, then they probably supposed as long as the ritual worked in keeping the teammates feeling safe, it was tolerable. The sleeping pattern did work too. The childish teammate’s nightmares simply refused to enter sapphire-shaded door.

            Now, Blue lie in his bed, staring at the ceiling. _What if his nightmares come back while he’s in the hospital? Do healing shrouds let patients have dreams? What if he wakes up and can’t go back to sleep because he can’t follow his routine?_ The head that is usually above a comfortable temperature was now filled to burst with questions.

            A couple of hours earlier (around 10:30pm to be exact), a warrior with lighter eyes than the rest of his almost-identical companions walked towards town. After waiting for his roommate to fall asleep, the hero who favored purple escaped the dark, cold walls of his room. Setting out towards the fairgrounds, the boy carried only his sword and a pouch of rupees, hoping to heal the open wounds he had inflicted, once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Chapter summaries aren't my forte either, it seems.


	5. Closing Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vio tries to make things right, or at least figure out how he can do that.

Vio trudged down the shaded road. Dirt and pebbles crunched beneath the hero’s leather boots as a waxing gibbous moon shined just enough light to frame the endless walkway. Covered in a translucent veil of darkness, the forest around the violet-garbed boy whispered of death and fear at any who approached, especially during night. Vio breathed in the sweet, sharp smell of pine trees and exhaled a puff of condensated, temporary fog. Vio walked with his hands in the hidden pockets of his custom-made mixture of trousers and tights and impossibly felt the hilt of the Four Sword. Vio smiled and rubbed the sharp edge of one of the many rupees in the pouch in his pocket as he remembered Zelda’s bright face when she debuted her newest learned spell “Endless Space”. The first thing she used her newfound spell on was a present to Link, so he could carry his knight training equipment around with him at all times.

    Reminiscing guided the purple-clad hero to his destination, and when Vio’s senses transitioned back to the present, he found himself jarringly close to the white, chipping paint of the gazebo in the middle of the triple spiral labyrinth in the castle garden. The boy couldn’t have told you how he had arrived or how long it had taken him to get here. Zelda sat, sleeping on a bench against the railing of the building. Vio smiled.

“If you needed sleep, you shouldn’t have called me here.”

Zelda jumped at the sudden break in the quiet night, then relaxed.

“You Din near gave me a heart attack, Vio,” She scolded as her companion sat opposite her, “and you know that this is more important than a couple hours lying under a fluffy comforter in a warm room.”

“Shut up or you’re going to make me fall asleep.” Vio cut in, rubbing his right eye.

“Have you been taking your pills?” Zelda suddenly cut into the conversation, an expression of worry transforming her usually smiling face. The boy in purple clothing sighed.

“Yes, Zelda, all six of them, every day.”

“Any side effects?”

“Zelda, I-“

“I asked you a question.” Her blue eyes burned like embers floating from a fireplace. Vio sighed again.

“No. No side effects.” Zelda sat back, satisfied with his answer. Vio turned his head to the hedge maze so he wouldn’t have to see the judgment in her eyes.

“You know I only ask because-“

“Because you’re my friend, right. Except “my friend” would realize that I’m smart enough to tell someone if I had symptoms. I know what the pills do to people who don’t report symptoms. I don’t, and I never had, a death wish.” Zelda searched his face with sadness in her eyes. Vio’s face remained blank and unattached on the surface, but through his large irises, she could see that he was hurt by her constant questions. _Pointing it out will make him worse._ She thought to herself. _Just let it go._ Zelda gave a defeated sigh.

“That’s not the only reason I asked you here today.” Vio's face softened.

    “I’m sorry. I should’ve guessed. It’s hard not to feel like everyone’s talking about me with,” Vio coughed, “that rumor.” Zelda nodded with a sad smile on her face. “What’s up?” He asked turning towards her.

“I’m worried about Blue.” 

“We’re all worried about Blue. Any specifics you want to clarify?” The blond-headed boy asked jokingly. Zelda brightened slightly.

“He didn’t seem very angry at the hospital. I know that sounds weird, but we’re talking about Blue. The guy lives and breathes anger and spirit. Yes, sure, he had his moments, but it didn’t seem… real.” The princess struggled to explain the perfect idea in her head.

“I understand what you’re saying.” Vio said as he sat forward with his elbows on his knees. “You don’t understand why Blue wasn’t outraged at the doctor’s suggestion that Red couldn’t pull out of this fine, why he didn’t insist on staying in the room when I was telling the story to make sure I ‘told it correctly’, etc.” Zelda nodded. Vio sat back, flipping his hair out of his face.

“ It’s his tribute to Red.” Zelda’s face twisted in confusion. She opened her mouth to talk, but Vio raised his open palm in a plea to let him continue. “Think about it. Every time that he and Red have hung out together, Red ends up calling him mean because of his angry behavior. Imagine if every time you snuck out of the castle, someone close to you called you a hooligan. You might take it either as a real insult or a joke insult. Blue always took Red’s statement as a joke, Red believed it to be an insult, but there’s something called the Pygmalion effect. Have you heard of it?” Zelda shook her head. “It’s based off of the old myth of Pygmalion that if you hold someone to a certain standard, they will become more and more like the standard. Therefore, if this is true, then the more Red considers Blue mean, the more mean he becomes, and no one else held him to an expectation of kindness, so he just became more and more mean in Red’s eyes. Now, what if,” Vio leaned in again, intrigued in his own proposal, “what if Blue became aware that the insult was just that, an insult, and set out to prove Red wrong? It’s in Blue’s nature to be angry and show all his emotions on his sleeve, to that effect he’s similar to Red, but what if he repressed this part of him in an effort to show Red that he really is a good person? Blue began to censor his words and actions, attempting to prove that he had self-control and could be kind and selfless, but,” Vio paused, thinking with his thumb and forefinger circling his chin. Zelda leaned in, enthralled by the explanation, “what if the perception of the word ‘mean’ reversed? Red, realizing that he wasn’t being mean ‘on purpose’ that was just his nature, began to say the word as a joke. Blue, realizing that Red had meant it before begins to take the joke as an insult. Red gets worried and scared when Blue tries to hide his anger, because the kid knows better than anyone that it’s just Blue’s way. Blue starts to hold himself to higher expectations than he can reach, and Red is scared at the fallout, so how does Red respond?” Vio asked, more to himself than Zelda, but the girl shrugged her shoulders anyway. Vio thought for a minute, before his eyes widened in realization, “What if, and this is just a theory, but what if he coaxes Blue into releasing his anger? Red sees what Blue’s doing and tries to get Blue to realize on his own that repressing your anger is bad. So Red changes his attitude. He starts to hide his emotions and feelings, tries to do things on his own, tries to isolate from his own way, all to show Blue how scary it is to see someone you know forcing themselves to change, but Red’s not as good at it as Blue. Red tries with all his might, but gives into his childish spirit with little to no effort on Blue’s part.”

“That’s very interesting,” Zelda cut in, “but that doesn’t explain-“

“One minute more and all your questions will be answered. Now, imagine that Red’s plan doesn’t give Blue the originally planned breakthrough, but does dent Blue’s original idea. Blue unconsciously makes the connection between Red’s strange behavior and his own and changes his behavior accordingly. Blue starts to show more moderation with his anger, and Red believes that moderate anger is better than completely repressing it, so there’s no point in confronting Blue about it and getting an unneeded argument. Now,” Vi smiled, the conclusion crystallizing in his mind, “imagine that we take out the inhibitor from the experiment. Blue never fully understood the concept of moderation and his plans never changed in his mind, so, suddenly, the original concept comes whooshing, and Blue starts completely rebelling as much anger as he can.” Zelda’s eyes widened. “Completely repressing as much anger as he can, Blue will continue to build until we there’s only one of two things left to happen.” Vio looked into Zelda’s eyes.

“We either reintroduce the safety valve, or the boiler explodes.” Zelda concluded

“Not quite. See, Blue’s anger has already built up. There will be an explosion. The difference is either destroying the demons that haunt the halls or destroying the family that lives in them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had just read some of "The Shining" before writing this chapter. Because of this, some of the analogies in this chapter (pretty sure they're obvious) allude to the book.


	6. Lonely Gossip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green ponders all the situations revolving around him.

    Green Link didn’t sleep the entire night. His favorite time to swing was at night anyway, so his inability to sleep wasn’t much of a bother to him. The repetition of a swing’s natural motion comforted Green, and the only thing the nature-colored Link really needed right now was peace of mind.

    Green had heard Vio leaving (of course he hadn’t known it was Vio at the time, given that the door doesn’t creak differently depending on the person who opens it) but he understood that whatever reason a Link would leave at 10:00pm, especially given what had happened earlier that day, was important. He had also noticed when Vio arrived back with a parasol in his hand around 2:00am, because he had been sitting in the Crowe's Nest at the time and could properly see over the roof of the shared house.

     _All that for a stupid parasol?_ The original-colored hero thought, confused as to why Vio, of all people, would walk the three hours to town and back for something as stupid as a parasol, but, then again, the purple Link seemed to be a mystery to nearly everyone except Shadow.

_Oh,_ the realization dawned on Green as Vio’s roommate, and the shadow's condition, crossed his mind, Green smiled sadly to himself, _It’s nice to know that they’re looking out for each other._ The hero looked down in the direction of the dining room, where he had earlier seen the light turn on, and then, after about 2 minutes, off. Green had never admitted to Red and Blue about his knowledge of their meetings, and it pained him to wonder how Blue felt after falling for the trap of his old ritual.

The famously colored boy understood perfectly what it was like to be close to someone but not be able to talk to them. Not only did Zelda live a full hour and a half away, but also rumors had begun to spread through the town that she and the boy in green were dating. Like most rumors, this was unfounded and not true. Although Link was close to Zelda, they were nothing more than best friends. Only Zelda and his other colors seemed to understand this, though.

    Normally, a silly rumor wouldn’t have bothered the Link, but this one was much more serious. Green was a knight-in-training, a member of the working class. Zelda was a princess, the highest class of them all. For her to be dating Green, would mean that she couldn’t find nor handle suitors in her own class or in similar classes, and for people to insult Zelda in such a way boiled the grass-colored Link’s blood, and it didn’t help that the only thing he could do about it was cut off, or at least limit, contact with the princess. Green sighed.

_ It’s just a petty little rumor. Eventually it’ll die out or the king will address it. Besides, my problems will sort themselves out. They’re definitely not the priority of the moment, so I need to start thinking of ways to help Blue, Vio, Shadow, and Red._

    Green continued to sit on the Crowe’s Nest, in an attempt to come up with ideas, but after 20 minutes without fruition, the Link climbed down, and went to lie in his bed.

Passing a door on his right, the walking Link heard someone jolt up silently in his bed. Green reached for the doorknob to check on his teammate, when he wondered whom he was dealing with. It was too dark to tell whether the door was purple or blue.

    It didn’t really matter anyway. Green was tired. Sure, he could try to help, but the leader didn’t have the clear, focused mind needed to effectively help people.

    Green’s hand hovered over the doorknob as he contemplated his options. After what felt like an eternity, the green-clothed Link withdrew his hand, turned, and continued through a fog of darkness to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never really connected with Green as a character. Yeah, I get it. You're the famous color, so you're the leader, but what is your STRENGTH? What is your WEAKNESS? How are you different from EVERY OTHER LINK IN THE ENTIRE FREAKIN' FRANCHISE. I mean, I have nothing against every other Link in the franchise, but YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DIFFERENT. (The mini-rant's over, I promise.)
> 
> Anyway, this chapter suffers because of my inability to see anything really special about Green. I'm sorry Green fans everywhere (for both the rant and the fail this chapter turned out to be).


	7. Fear

    The boy opened his eyes halfway to see a translucent emerald sheen over him. Lavender, organic lines moved as waves across the green as they performed their sole duty. He smiled and chuckled groggily at them. Looking outside of the sheen, the comforting darkness of night time transformed the room into silhouettes. Turning his head to the left, the boy saw a shadow in the shape of a sword and shield, stacked carefully on top of a white box made gray with darkness. His mind was cloudy with sleep, so no words formed in the boy’s mind, but he did feel relief. The boy moved his head to the right to see a door. Confused, the boy wondered why he wanted to leave the comfort of his bed. He wasn’t hungry. It was so relaxing. Couldn’t he just sleep a little more? Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his right hand. Looking down, the boy tried to figure out what was wrong with his hand, only to discover why he couldn’t move.

    Large iron shackles pinned his body to the bed. Any time the boy tried to move, the grip tightened around his torso, crushing him to the spot. Around the area where his arm should be, was nothing except for a bloody bone-saw, a needle, thread stained with metallic-scented blood, and his sword.

    Red’s eyes jolted open in surprise, and he tried to shout for help, only to find his voice being crushed away from himself. The door to his right opened and harsh, bright light hit Red’s eyes. The light blinded Red, yet he could somehow still see the man who entered. A tall, skinny man in robin’s egg blue, blood-stained scrubs, smiled at his patient, wire-rimmed, ocular aided eyes bright with amusement. He held his hands behind his back and stood with the confident posture of an individual who know what he was doing, but the dark undertone his bright blue eyes held, would make anyone worry what, exactly, that entailed.

    “It’s alright, everything will be perfectly fine. I’ll fix you right up.” The doctor told Red in a maliciously soothing tone. Walking up to the bed, the doctor clapped his hands in front of himself; rubbing them with eagerness to begin whatever procedure he had planned.  Red began to cry from the sheer terror he felt. He had finally awakened enough to form thoughts. _Where’s Green? Where’s Vio? Where is Blue? Why isn’t anyone here to help me?_

    Blue jolted up in bed, the nightmare fresh in his mind. Slowly, without feeling or sound, the child hugged his knees to his chest and rested his forehead on them.

    This was the position Blue stayed in, without sobbing, without shrieking, frozen, when Vio opened the door the next morning to tell him that breakfast was ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't know how to write a good summary for this chapter. Everything I wrote gave away the whole "It was a nightmare" thing. If I could have, I would have written, "We are not scared of 'what is' so much as 'what can be'."
> 
> Corny, I know, but it's the best I could think of...


	8. Confronting Old Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Links go see their injured comrade at the hospital. Blue confronts Red.

    The carriage ride to the hospital consisted of a thoughtful, grateful silence. Both Links housing their own separate interpretations and reactions to the situation the carriage returned them to. Vio and Shadow weren't in the carriage because Shadow preferred the thought of walking to the hospital to try out his new gift, and, although Vio’s guilt enjoyed the idea of Shadow getting to leave the house, Vio would only allow Shadow to leave on foot with the condition that the two of them leave before sunrise. The two arrived at the hospital an hour before the others and 30 minutes after sunrise.

    Now, the lack of their presence added a new strain on the carriage. The three teens, who had never felt so young in their lives, couldn't help but notice all the emptiness. At least the negative space served as a reminder of where they were going. Never mind gossip and never mind nightmares. Red’s injury was the only thing to worry over now.

    It took both forever and a second to reach the hospital. Green spotted it first through the black shading on the right window of the carriage and waved at Zelda to show her to start preparing to leave. Blue, tired from lack of sleep, sat, silently sulking but deep in thought, in the corner.  The emerald colored Link saw Vio leaning against a wall before he realized that the wall was actually the hospital. 

    After the three teens left the carriage, Zelda separated from the Links to enter into the doctors’ side of the hospital. Blue passed Vio without a word, Vio followed Blue, and Green trailed behind, grabbing Shadow on his way past the waiting room. The boys reached Red’s door shortly after.

    Blue didn’t like the thought of fear. He especially didn’t like for the others to notice how scared he was of seeing Red so when he reached the door, he opened it without hesitation. It was hard not to be immediately drawn to the red triangle on a nightstand next to the bed. A red shape on a white cube is generally hard to miss, and it was preferable to watch the hat than it was to see its owner, but it didn’t take long for the familiar cone to lose Blue’s attention.

    The patient lie, pale-faced and eyes closed, on the white bed. If not for the head of blonde, playfully messed hair, one could hardly tell that the boy in the bed was the ruby of the Links. The shape, to a person who didn’t know, was almost perfectly normal, but to Blue, that one grotesque feature captured all of his sight. On Blue’s right side of the figure, the covers of the bed had a horizontal break in an otherwise perfect slope between the patient’s chest and the bed. On Blue’s left side of the figure, the slope continued from chest to bed in a perfectly curved path. The image itself wouldn’t shock even the newest of doctors or a squeamish civilian, but to Blue, Vio, Green, and Shadow, the knowledge of why the slope was unbroken served as a bone-chilling reminder of the danger of their work.

    Blue stood stone still at the door. Green and Vio exchanged glances, but neither made a move towards Blue. Shadow looked quizzically at the clones. What had they expected? Red and Blue were always connected, if unwillingly, in the same way that a duckling always follows its mother. Of course the mother would grieve if its child were hurt.

    Seeing that the colors didn’t know how to proceed, Shadow rolled his eyes as he placed his right hand between the tear-colored Link’s shoulder blades.

    Blue flinched and turned his head angrily, but the resolute look in Shadow’s eyes, and probably the surprise of Shadow being the one guiding him forward, gave Blue the strength to move his left then his right foot.

     _It’s hard to imagine him being our enemy anymore_ , Green thought.

    Blue slowly walked towards Red as Shadow gently guided him forward. Shadow felt forcefully glued to Blue’s side, but he didn’t mind; he was used to following others.

Green walked cautiously behind the statue and its shadow. He thought about trying to comfort Blue as well, but he quickly dismissed the idea. Blue was a bomb and Shadow was the flower keeping it from lighting. Some bomb flowers were more sensitive than others, so one had to be cautious of touching all of them, in case you accidently set them off.

    _ Hey, that’s a pretty good metaphor. _Green thought in a dim, but present, triumph. _I’ll have to tell Vio that when this is over. He’ll probably like that._ Vio lightly touched Green’s shoulder, nodded, and smirked.

    Unnerving. Always unnerving. The grass-colored Link knew he would still have to tell Vio the metaphor, but the weirdness of having one’s thoughts analyzed to their basic emotion and reaction never seemed to leave.

    Blue stood in front of a chair, one of the steel chairs with plastic seats that school students used. Shadow put his hands on Blue’s shoulders and lightly pushed him to a sitting position. The chair squeaked under Blue’s weight, and Red opened his eyes at the noise. With the half-lidded eyes of a tired child, he turned his head towards the chair. A weak, surprised smile transformed the sick boy with blonde hair into their clone, Red.

    “Hi, Blue! Hi, Green! Hi, Vio! Oh, hi, Shadow!” He cheerfully exhaled. Almost everyone muttered a small greeting in response, but when Blue didn’t respond, he continued, “what’s wrong? Did I worry you?”

    “What do you think?” Blue quietly growled through his gritted teeth, standing up as his voice grew into a shout, “What, do you think? What WERE you THINKING trying to run and get help YOURSELF in the middle of a Din damned AMBUSH? You could’ve gotten yourself killed! How could you be so damn stupid? How could you be so damn insensitive? Do you know how many hours I slept last night? None, because I was too Nayru damned busy trying to not worry, and you’ve got the gall to ask if something’s wrong?” Blue’s fists clenched and his eyes held an un-bottled rage Red had never seen directed at him. The water-colored Link’s cheeks shone bright pink, and his mouth bared a bright white snarl. Green had jumped away from the outburst, Shadow had his hands on Blue’s shoulders again to remind him of where he was and coax him to sit, and Vio stood at Blue’s right side, ready to stop Blue if another bubble of temper burst, as it so often did with Blue.

    But it didn’t.

    Without Shadow’s coaxing to thank, Blue collapsed into the chair, hunched over with his head buried in his hands, his elbows buried in his knees, and his bangs hiding his darkness-crossed face.

    “How,” he asked again, “could you be so stupid?”

    Red lie there for one second to think, one second to check if Blue was kidding or not, and another second to think again.

    “It wasn’t stupid,” he replied, trying to find the words, “it was childish. I’m sorry. I thought I had a clear path to the castle.”

    “Well, you were wrong.” Blue replied curtly, dropping his hands to cross across his lap and looking up at Red through his bangs, “It doesn’t matter what you thought. What matters is that you went alone. We’re a team, Red. The only reason I know that is because that’s what you’re always nagging me about. You’re the one always saying that I don’t have to do things alone. You beg me to follow you to places all the time. Why not then?”

    “I thought you hated when I do that.”

    “I hate it more when I have to visit you at the hospital. I hate it more when I can’t sleep because the thought of you lying alone in a hospital bed scares me too much. I hate when you beg me for stuff, yes, but I hate it more when I have to wait for a doctor to tell me if I need to borrow Shadow’s wardrobe because you were too scared of making me mad to make the right choice.” A stern, resolute look, similar to Shadow’s earlier one, filled Blue’s eyes, “don’t you ever do this to me again.”

    Red lie dumbfounded, watching his best friend since always.

    “And stop giving me that stupid look,” a small smirk brushed Blue’s face for the first time in two days, “You know I hate it when you do that.”


	9. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vio tries to calm Blue. In doing so, he learns more about the pain and hurt he might've accidentally caused.

     _There is no place that feels less alive,_ Shadow mused, _than the waiting room of a hospital._ Vio smirked in the metal chair to Shadow’s left and Shadow smirked in reply.

    Green sat with Zelda in a corner of the waiting room. A plant, tall and leafy with life, stood in the exact corner to Zelda’s left and Green’s right. When the Links were comforting Red, she had been talking to the doctor who would perform the operation, meeting up with them in Red’s room shortly before they were told to leave. Since it was later in the day, other patients’ friends and relatives sat scattered around the room.

    Blue sat in the exact middle of the waiting room. The surrounding people looked at their sapphire hero with pity and understanding. Red had never entered town without him, and he never entered town without Red. Until today. Today, Red was only with him in thought as he braced himself from their stares. It filled their hearts with sadness, and this filled him with his age-old comforting, familiar anger.

     _How dare they pretend that they understand?_ he thought, purposefully neglecting the fact that they themselves were waiting to see their own friends and family of various injury or sickness. Vio looked over at Blue and shook his head.

    “What?” Shadow asked curiously as he looked between Vio and Blue.

    “Just an idiot’s fascinating way of blocking out the inconvenient facts,” he responded. Shadow frowned.

    “What? Did Blue say something that I didn’t hear? That doesn’t happen very often.” Vio’s head turned to Shadow, a bored, if impatient, look on his face.

    “Blue’s thoughts are easy to decipher if you look at his facial expression. He’s very simple-minded and likes to wear his hearts on his sleeves. He’s not like Green who, as you know, has much more complex thoughts and emotions. With Green, even if I can tell things like whether or not he’s worried or, like before, wants to speak with me, it’s a lot harder to guess what he’s specifically thinking of,” he responded.

    “I know,” Shadow rolled his eyes and leaned back in the uncomfortable, monotonous waiting room chair, “I’m saying it’s odd that I didn’t catch what he was thinking.”

    “Oh. Right. Sorry, I’m not used to another person being in-tune with the other Links’ thoughts.”

    A pause.

    “Do you think we should go sit with Blue?” Shadow leaned forward to look at their companion. “’Cause he looks like he’s about to punch someone in mourning.”

    Vio turned at Shadow’s words to see Blue clenching and unclenching his fists as a tear-streaked teenage boy began to walk towards him.

    Faster than an arrow, Vio was kneeling in front of Blue and before another arrow could be notched, Shadow was standing beside the two, talking with the teenager.

    “Blue, you need to calm down.”

    “How can I be calm? Everyone keeps looking at me like I’M the one who got injured, like I’M the one who needs help.”

    “Well, anger management courses couldn’t hurt.”

    “I hate you.”

    “Good,” Vio put his hands on Blue’s shoulders, “focus on that.”

    “Why are you even over here?”

    “Because Shadow pointed out that your temper was about to flare in a room full of scared, hurting individuals, and that is the last thing we need.” Blue opened his mouth to talk. “No, listen to me before you reply. I know you believe that you can’t emotionally wound yourself, but you’re wrong, and I know you know you’re wrong. This whole time you’ve been worried that Red is scared and alone and you’ve been killing yourself over letting him be hurt, but I can promise you that’s not how Red sees it.” Blue looked at Vio’s powder blue eyes. He was silent for a minute as he searched his mind for a response.

    “Remember when Red first got the playground?” He began.

    “Of course I do.”

    “Do you know why he got the playground?”

    “Because he wanted a place for us to feel like we could play without actually competing, right?”

    Blue skipped a beat. “Not really. That’s another thing, but that’s not the main reason why he got it.” Vio raised his eyebrow. “Red was so sad after you began taking those pills.” The listener’s face darkened. “Yeah, I know. You don’t like talking about them, but Red can’t ignore their existence as well as you can. Anyway, he felt like it was his fault. He felt like if he had been less of a nuisance to you, if he’d helped you with treating Shadow more often, then you wouldn’t need medicine. He asked me how he could help, and I told him “You know Vio, he just needs a place to sort things out. A place where he can think without judgment.”” Vio’s eyes softened at how bad Red must’ve felt. Going to Blue for advice meant that Green hadn’t been able to help him before. “That’s when he found an advertisement in town about the pirate ship playground. Green and I had our doubts, especially about,” Blue cleared his throat and looked to his left, “its height, but Red was sure that it’d be perfect. That’s why Shadow donated so much money towards it. I’ll never remember the look on his face one day as I asked him if there wasn’t something else he could do to help, since he actually lost sleep to babysit to help raise money. Red looked at me and said ‘Blue, this isn’t just for Vio. Our house is only that, a house. We all need someplace to go when things look bad. That’s why when I get the playground, I’m going to paint everyone’s favorite thing their favorite color. It can give them a place to go when they’re sad.’ Then he smiled and said, ‘Who knows? Maybe it’ll help us connect as brothers of another color.’ I had to tell him why he needed to stop saying that when referring to us.” Blue smiled, still looking at the door to his left that led to the hallways with rows and rows of patients.

    “Do you know why I’m telling you this?” Vio shook his head. “Because what he said, about giving people a place to go when they feel sad, didn’t really register until all this happened. I mean, when he asked me, I was just repeating what the doctor told me, but now I think I understand what that really meant.”  Blue chuckled half-heartedly, “I guess the playground was a good idea after all.”


	10. Those Who Help Themselves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Links wait for their friend, a strange premonition takes hold in Blue.

    Vio sat to Blue’s right and Shadow to his left as the sun rose ever higher in the sky. Green and Zelda still sat in the corner, but only because the seats around the other Links were taken by concerned townspeople.

    _ You’d think they’d actually say something consoling, but they’re just sitting here sullenly._Shadow thought, showing how he felt through his eyes to Vio.

     _I know,_ Vio’s eyes seemed to reply, _but I think it’s ‘cause Blue’s never really been “sad” around them._ Zelda stood and walked over to the small group of boys.

    “Hey, Blue.” She replied, kneeling on the floor near his chair when another wasn’t immediately offered to her. Before she knew it, the entire town was standing to try and give her a chair. She took the one across from Blue, and, before the townspeople could sit, Green took the chair to her right. “He’s going to be okay.”

    Blue looked up at her seriously.

    “He knows,” Vio replied. Truthfully, every minute without news meant a year of isolation for the sky-colored Link, but Vio would never tell Zelda that.

    “It’s just easier for him to be silent and think than to talk awkwardly,” Shadow continued. Zelda smiled in reply.

    Every townsperson was silent, not in mourning, just in thought (as Blue continued to reinforce himself). The younger ones walked up to Blue every once in a while and handed the hero his or her respective favorite toy. Over a period of 30 minutes, Blue had a collection of stuffed animals, yoyos, slingshots, and various plastic weapons gathered on his lap. However, other than a nod and faker smile than the weapons, Blue sat stock still with his eyes hazily glued to the space on the floor in front of him. Shadow and Vio shared worried glances and thoughts to either side of the tired hero.

    Now, let’s be clear. By now, the hyperbole use in this recount of what happened after Red was injured has been minimal. This story has tried, with all its might, to only collect the facts of the matter and the personal recounts of the Links and to put these factors in an order that makes sense to the reader. However, despite the sheer amount of witnesses, the event that took place a few short minutes after the 13th train was placed on Blue’s lap has many, extremely different, recollections. Most likely, the event was so sudden and strange that any blank in an individual witness's mind was filled in through their own train of reason. Whatever the case may be, the following paragraph is composed of the most consistent facts of the next sequence.

    Suddenly, Blue’s entire body flinched. His expression twisted into one of extreme pain. His entire body curled and at least half of the toys were pushed onto the floor from the sudden shock. When the motion had passed, he sat, curled and still, for a second. The room didn’t breath for fear of pushing him into another spasm. Finally, and suddenly, Blue stood. The toys fell to the floor around him. Children have a funny way about forgiving others. Even the most “selfish” of children there never blamed Blue for the broken and dented valuables. His blue eyes, which were previously emptied through pain, shone bright with fear. Green would later call this “the scariest part of the story”, while Vio and Shadow agree that Blue’s expression was “a step in the right direction but at the wrong time”. Blue sprinted towards the surgery door with full force, only shouting backwards one explanation before he disappeared.

    “He needs help.”

    Before the town could blink, Shadow and Vio and Green were all sprinting after Blue with determination in their eyes and the worst fear they’d ever felt on their sleeves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no! Drama!
> 
> (I'm only finding out now that Chapter titles aren't required. It's 12:37am... I'm too lazy to change every other chapter at this point.)
> 
> I tried to make the title clever.


	11. Helping Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Links help the doctor in any way they can. Even if it means acknowledging an unpleasant truth.

Blue ran down the hallways with surprising accuracy of direction. Vio and Shadow followed at his heels, and Green, who sometimes misread what direction Blue would turn, took to following the darker-clothed boys. Sometimes, Vio would try to ask Blue what was wrong, or Green would shout at Blue to slow down.

Their shouts were met with a determined, focused silence. Eventually, fatigue and repetitive failure for answers led the others to silence. Before too long, Blue burst through the doors of the operating room and into a panic.

A tall doctor, Gerudo, stood barking orders at the two nurses. Mint-blue tinged gloves and a similarly colored surgical mask were the only things separating her as the nurses’ superior. She worked in a white room with a chrome table and, as a temporary feature, Red in the middle of it.

One nurse ran back and forth from Red’s side to a faucet attached to the wall of the room, constantly replacing the cloths on the table with clean cloths and refreshing the cold, wet towel on Red’s forehead. A second nurse held Red’s good hand and pet his hair as he lie on the table.

Red lie back on the table, biting his lower lip in an effort to keep himself from screaming at the pain shooting from his shoulder. He kept his eyes squinted closed in pain and determination, even after hearing the door burst open.

    “Why is he waking up?!” The main doctor growled at the nurse holding Red’s hand. The doctor frantically cleaned his arm with a wash cloth dampened with alcohol. Every swab caused Red to groan or scream a little. It didn’t help that she was trying to find a certain tool on the table at the same time as cleaning his arm.

    “I-I don’t-” the nurse was cut off by Green.

    “Vio! Go assist the doctor with medical tools.” Green began, “Blue! Keep Red calm no matter what.” He turned to Shadow, “Has Vio told you about his possible side-effects?” Shadow nodded swiftly. “Good, then make sure to tell me if anything changes.” He nodded and ran to Vio’s side.

    “Din dammit! You kids get out of here right now!” The doctor barked as her head sprung towards the door. Her hand slipped and the needle (which Vio had, along with thread, been so kind as to give to her) stabbed Red’s shoulder bone. He screamed. “Dammit all,” she whispered under her breath as she refocused.

    “Red?” Blue asked as he kneeled the Red’s left side, “Red, don’t worry. Despite what just happened, this lady is a professional.” The doctor glared at him from across the table before continuing to repair the tissue in Red’s shoulder.

    “You kids are distracting me, and if I don’t get this kid’s arm reattached in the next,” she whispered numbers under her breath, “5 minutes it’ll be ruined.”

    “Well, what’s the problem? I thought you said you had plenty of time?” Zelda said, entering the room with a rushed expression. She glared at Blue, “I can’t run in a dress.”

    “Well, I would have except he woke up. If he’s awake, that means his arm’s also been released from the Sleeping Suture spell. It’s out of suspension and is probably decaying rapidly.” The nurse holding Red’s good hand looked at the doctor; an idea forming in her mind and filling the nurse with excitement.

    “Maybe it’s some fear keeping him awake. I know there was a case where one woman woke up in the middle of her skin graft because she was worried about her cat being too skinny.” The Blue’s, Green’s, and Zelda’s heads snapped towards the nurse with concern and a tinge of horror marking their face. Vio and Shadow were too focused to hear the nurse. _The Princess said that the purple one has been taking care of a recovering comatose patient for quite some time._ She thought to herself, _even going so far as to assist in a surgery to remove shards of reflective glass that was lodged in the patient’s internal organs. Maybe…_ She looked up at Green.

    “If your purple brother here can work on this for a minute, I can calibrate the magic to be more effective for whatever fear the red one’s feeling. What’s been worrying him?”

    Green looked at Blue expectantly. Blue looked to the ground.

    “Vio’s pills.” Vio, snapped out of his concentration by his name, tensed after what Blue said registered.

    “Pills for what? You have to be specific.”

    “Major Depressive Disorder.” Vio filled in tensely before Blue could respond as he crouched next to the doctor, ready to take over when she left. The doctor raised an eyebrow.

    “Are you sure you should be-”

    “We just said I was taking pills for it. I’m fine.”

    The doctor opened her mouth to argue, but, after a moment of thought, instead gave Vio the needle. Vio looked at the needle questioningly for a second before raising his eyes skeptically to the doctor. 

“Are you sure the nurse shouldn’t be doing this?” Vio asked but his question was met with silence as the doctor moved away and began making hand symbols in the corner. Shadow looked at the nurse.

“I can’t stand the sight of blood.” She replied, looking towards the ceiling of the surgery room. Shadow’s face twisted into pure confusion.

“Th-Then... w… why are you a… a nurse?”

“Shadow! Focus! I need some sterilizer.” Vio literally snapped him out of his well-deserved confusion. Shadow set to work supplying Vio with tools on command. A soft pink light began to glow from between the doctor’s hands.

Red’s eyelids began to flutter, and his muscles slowly relaxed. After about a minute, the doctor returned to the surgery table.

“Now, thank you boys for your help, but with all due respect, get the Ganon out of here.” The nurse previously holding Red’s hand began to shoo the boys from the room. Most of the Links and Zelda left the room grudgingly. However, Blue didn’t move from his spot next to Red. When the nurse began to approach Blue, he slowly stood and squarely looked at her with the stance of a statue.

“Me being away from him is how all of this started. I’m not making that mistake again. If you want to remove me from this room, you’re going to need one heck of a guard.”

There was quite a commotion in the waiting room a few minutes after the other Links had rejoined the awaiting family members when Blue was dragged, practically kicking and screaming, into the waiting room by two hospital guards.

After a countless amount of minutes, a nurse walked into the waiting room.

“Would the relatives of,” the nurse checked her clipboard, “Red please come with me.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Links prepare to face their teammate.

    The boys followed the nurse down the endlessly monotonous white-tile hallways. _How,_ Blue mused, _did I possibly find his room when everything looks so freaking similar?_ Vio shook his head. He couldn’t help Blue to understand what had happened in the same way that an artist can never teach a strategist _how_ they paint the way they paint. Every artist has to create their own perception. Perceptions might overlap at points, but each individual artist is unique in their own answer.

    Green walked behind his three companions. He knew, in his own way, that he was the strategist in the scenario. The heroes who walked in front of him, their blue and purple and black, seemed to him the bruises of never knowing what it’s like to be so in-tune with your teammates to be able to find them in an unknown hospital, guess their very thoughts, or understand each ones’ respective breaking points. Green knew Shadow’s plan. He had wanted Vio to stop worrying about him so much, so the boy in black had carefully exploded, making sure to hit only the points that would make Vio realize that his job was almost done. After all, only someone finely in-tuned with emotions would be able to shout at someone with Major Depressive Disorder without worry of setting them off into another, if not their last, depression.

    Green smirked after his little revelation. He might be the strategist, the one who’ll never truly understand thought patterns and emotions the way the others do, but he didn’t need to in order to keep his team alive. In the end, he was their leader. When all else failed, when the confusion and panic of battle set in, he was the one the others listened to for their jobs. Vio was great at plans, but Green was, and would always be, the group’s strategist.

    The group’s musings and, of course, the nurse eventually led them in front of a white door.

    “I’m sorry about the wait,” she turned to the boys as a soft smile spread across her face, “please go in when you’re ready, and not a second before.” She then turned on her heel, and _click, click_ -ed away on the white-tiled floor.

    Shadow reached for the door, but Vio stopped him.

    “Don’t,” the purple comrade warned him. Shadow turned his head. Vio’s look, as pointed as a cactus thorn, pierced through Shadow. “There’s only one person here who deserves to open that door.” After a minute, Shadow nodded and lowered his hand.

    All three children, and, in this moment, they experienced the kind of fear children feel when threatened with worry, turned to Blue. Blue looked down at the floor, away from them.

    “Zelda’s not here yet, maybe we should-”

    “She won’t be joining us,” Green interrupted. “She wanted to meet up with the Gerudo.” Vio raised his eyebrow at Green, “She’s as worried as we are, but you know the kingdom always has to come first, and Castle Town, if not the whole of Hyrule, could benefit from a skilled medical instructor.” Vio nodded and once again looked at his sapphire teammate. Blue continued inspecting the tiles near his feet. Shadow walked to the boy’s side and patted him on the shoulder.

    “Not a second before we’re ready. That’s what the nurse said, right? We’re not going in until you think you’re able to face what’s behind that door. But,” he squeezed the passionate Link’s shoulder, “I feel like I should remind you; every second you wait out here, he waits in there. If he’s not awake yet, he should be soon.” Blue took a second before nodding. Shadow guided him by the shoulder to the door and then sat the hero with his back leaning against the wood. He gave Blue one more reassuring squeeze before returning to Vio’s side.

    “That makes twice today you’ve been able to console him. How long have you been able to do that?” Vio asked his friend. Shadow smirked.

    “In order to manipulate people to do anything, you must understand physical and mental reactions inside and out, not just for them, but for their race in general. You’d be surprised how kind the meanest of people can be to those who are useful. Then again,” he looked at Vio out of the corner of his eye and smirked, “I seem to remember a time when you yourself were quite skilled at manipulation; I wonder at where those skills of physical and mental timing you developed have gone.”

    “If you two could stop with your weird flirting, I’m trying to think.” Blue said soberly, his head tilted in a way so that you couldn’t see his eyes. Shadow’s head snapped to Blue and then down to the floor. Vio remained apathetic in expression, but Green could swear he saw a hint of blush on his face.

    It must’ve been thirty, if not forty, minutes before Blue finally took a deep breath and stood. His legs shook, but he remained determinately standing.

“All right,” he breathed, probably not truthfully, “I guess there’s no point in stalling. They wouldn’t have dragged us all the way out here if he weren’t, at least, alive.” Blue slowly turned, his bangs still shielding his eyes. He carefully reached out and turned the doorknob. Each movement was tense and careful, as though he were forcing himself to move through quicksand. He opened the door to reveal a room of white, with two centerpieces; the sleeping patient and one of the nurses from the room, the one who hadn’t spoken during the procedure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how the meet-up for Red and the rest of the team became so long. One second I'm writing a paragraph, a couple hours later, I have two separate chapters.


	13. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (STRONG LANGUAGE WARNING) The boiler explodes.

The nurse picked her head up at the soft sound of the opening door. She had been sitting with the patient since he left the surgery room. This was Nairi’s third year as a nurse and her first year as the skilled surgeon’s apprentice. She had always admired the Gerudo and the way that she took every obstacle in stride. However…

The Links crept into the room silently, it felt like an invasion of privacy to have someone here, but they were glad for the gesture. There was a minute or two of silence.

“So?...” Blue asked hopefully, “How is he?” Vio stared at the bed, an apathetic, glazed-over look in his eyes. He knew what she would say, he could see for himself what had happened. The nurse looked down.

“I’m sorry.”

Blue’s head sprang to the bed. The unbroken curve of the top sheet caught his attention like it had before the procedure. He held down the urge to gag.

“But...we were there, we saved… I mean, we helped…” he sputtered, unbelieving. After a moment, he slowly turned his head to the nurse with a tense, fierceness. “This… this is some sick joke you’re playing.” He growled, his fists clenched as tight as his denial. “All right, you’ve had your freaking laugh. Now lift the Din damned spell or whatever you did and get out of my sight.” Her expression didn’t change.

“I realize this is probably difficult for-”

“Difficult? Lady, defeating Ganondorf is difficult. Getting used to the fact that you’re a fraction of a real person is difficult. This? This is a fucking nightmare. I swear, if you’re playing some sick, fucking joke on me, you’d better tell me right now before I go ballistic.” Vio stepped forward and put his hand on Blue’s shoulder. The azure hero was shaking.

“Blue…” he warned.

“NO! FUCK YOU!” He shouted, backing away from his purple “teammate”. Who had the right to tell him not to be upset? Who had the right to _warn_ him that he was _going_ _too far?_ As much as he was concerned, he could be going a lot further. He turned sharply to the nurse, who had stood and was now backing towards the far wall with fear in her eyes. She had seen negative reactions in situations like this, but this… this kid was crazy.

“What. Happened.” Blue growled, a low, throaty sound, at the nurse. It wasn’t a question.

“We-we did all we could.” She stuttered, trying to get as much distance between them as possible. Shadow crept up behind Blue, nodding at the nurse to show her that the others wouldn’t let the child in sky-colored clothing hurt her. “But, Dr. Idun… her spell didn’t work… on the child’s arm. He must’ve had some-some other worry that we weren’t told of. I-I-I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, but… we weren’t able to save his arm… but we did patch up the wound well enough that he should be able to get some sort of…” she hesitated. Blue was visibly seething. He breathed gasping breaths through clenched teeth and his eyes shown with hatred and betrayal. He had trusted them, he had helped them, and they had let him down. She cautiously continued, “A… prosthetic?”

Shadow wrapped his arms around Blue’s chest in the same moment that the passionate Link lunged forward. The dark hero began dragging an enraged Blue back towards the door. Green ran around the two and stood, arms outstretched, between Blue and the nurse. The temperamental Link fought against Shadow’s grip, the pent-up anger, frustration, fear, and the weak feeling of not being able to help bursting from him. Vio recognized the look in Blue’s eyes. 

_ It was like a painting in a museum.  _ He mused. _Where have I thought that before?_

“Blue! Calm down!” Vio shouted at the violent version of himself. Trying desperately to calm Blue while Shadow restrained him with his own back to the closed door. “Please! Blue!” His cries seemed to fall on deaf ears. Love is blind, and anger is deaf, especially to reason. The nurse screeched and climbed on the counter, as though she had seen a venomous snake on the floor sliding straight towards her, fangs bared.

“Keep him away from me! He’s crazy!” She screamed.

“No, he’s not. He and Red were really close, please you have to understand.” Green tried to reason with her, but it didn’t help that Vio was shouting at Blue now.

“Shut up and think for a second! You’re gonna get us kicked out of the hospital!”

“The hospital?! Try Castle Town you bunch of freaks!”

“Hey! It’s not our fault you set him off!”

“Set him off?! That kid needs therapy! He’s a freaking time bomb!”

“Shut up! I’m trying to take care of it!”

“Damn it all! Would one of you open the Din damned door so I can get him in the fucking hallway?!”

The yawn was almost imperceptible. A soft, tinkling sound like two glasses clinking together. But Blue heard it, and it was enough for him to stop. He froze. He’d heard that yawn every morning since that night two weeks after they’d saved Princess Zelda. His head sprung towards the bed as his eyes went wide.

Blue’s sudden silence prompted the others to look towards the source of Blue’s sudden change in behavior.

Red sat up, rubbing his left eye with the palm of his hand, as he yawned again. His hair was playfully messed up. He took one look around the room and laughed at the still frame of chaos around him.

“Awww, Bluuuuuue!” He jokingly sighed, “Are you causing a fuss again, you jerk? I fell asleep for five minutes and you’re already trying to kill a nice nurse-lady.” He turned to said nurse, who still crouched on the counter, holding the cabinet for support. “I’m sorry for the trouble Nairi, I know he can be scary, but I promise he means well.” Nairi blinked a few times before clearing her throat and descending from the counter.

“Well,” She began as she straightened out her uniform, “I have other duties to attend to. No harm was done in the end. I’ll leave the rest of you to handle him.” She glared at Blue as she moved to leave the room. As she passed the blue and black-robed boys, she hissed back, “and I still think you need therapy.”

The door closed with a slam. Red sighed.

“And she was such a nice lady, too.”

Shadow relaxed his grip on Blue, who shot aforementioned boy a dirty look before moving to Red’s right side.

“I-I-I,” he tried to begin, but that bandage-covered space where Red’s arm should have been was too much. Red smiled sympathetically up to his friend.

“I know. I forgive you. It was never your fault in the first place.” Blue looked down at the floor, using his bangs to shield his eyes. He collapsed onto his knees, crossed his arms on the bed, and buried his face in his arms.

“No, I’m so, so sorry. It-it was all my fault. If I wasn’t always such a jerk to you, if I wasn’t so mean, if I didn’t always push you away, you might’ve called for my help. I could’ve helped you. I’m so sorry.” Red smiled and rolled his eyes as he ruffled the boy in blue’s hair. Blue looked up at Red, tears streaked two definite lines across his face. Red sympathetically tilted his head as he pet Blue’s hair.

“Bullshit.”

It took Blue a second to register what Red had said.

“W… what?”

“I said, ‘bullshit’. Blue, I know you don’t try to be mean. I’ve known it for a while. That’s just your way. You don’t need to change. I like it when you’re a jerk. It lets me know that everything’s all right. You NOT being a jerk is what made me think you hated me in the first place. So, ‘bullshit’.”

Another second passed as Blue merely blinked at Red.

                                                  

The second after that, however, Blue laughed, of relief, surprise, and pure happiness, louder than he had in his entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The summary was an allusion (can I use that word here?) for a previous chapter.


	14. Peace? Quiet? Tranquility?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6 months later...

    “Higher!” Red shouted at the hot-headed Link as he pushed Red on the swingset. Blue flinched. He often found himself lost in the memory of what occurred 6 months prior at the Sage’s Hospital. He never knew when he’d slip into another shred of thought, but it always was a shock to be snapped out of memories. Blue did as Red “asked” but felt the need to reply.

“Why do I always have to be the one to push you?”

“Because I only have one arm, silly. There’s no way I could push you.” Blue sighed exasperatedly. Red had adapted well to both the physical and mental challenges of only having one _real_ arm (Red did ask to receive a prosthetic, but was slightly disappointed when it “couldn’t shoot lasers” and “didn’t _look_ like a cyborg arm”), and Blue was used to the idea that the thing attached to Red’s right shoulder wasn’t made of skin and bone and was just a combination of level-1 spells, wood, and metal, but why did he have to be so nonchalant about it?

“No,” he continued, “I mean why can’t you get Vio or Green or even Shadow to do this?”

“Cause they have important stuff to do.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Blue barked. Before Red could reply, the door to the back yard opened.

“Bickering again?” Shadow asked teasingly as he stepped onto the lawn, twirling the opened parasol above him, “I guess old habits do die hard.”

“Hey, get rid of the umbrella, then we’ll talk.” Blue replied.

“Didn’t Vio say you could stand sunlight now?” Red asked, trying to divert the conversation away from a fight.

“Yes, I did,” Vio responded, stepping from the doorway with a basket and blanket. “I don’t know why he still insists on using that parasol.” Shadow scoffed with fake offense.

“Because it was a gift from you! I’m not about to throw it away! ...besides I sunburn easily.” He responded. Red laughed.

“Well, I guess that makes sense then. What’s in the basket, Vi?”

“Hmm?” The addressed boy looked confused before he remembered the basket in his hand, “Oh, this? To commemorate his ability to be able to tolerate sunlight for a whole day, we’re having a picnic at the top of the rope course… apparently.” Vio rolled his eyes to show that none of this was his idea. Blue chuckled. He knew that most likely, Shadow had simply run up to Vio, handed him the objects, and told him of the plan without allowing the purple-garbed boy to object. Red gasped with a beaming smile on his face.

“Oh! Oh! Can I join you guys? I’m starving!” He jumped off the swing and ran towards the two dark-themed boys. “Pleeeeeease?” Vio turned his head to Shadow.

“I did pack enough food for all of us…” he added, obviously wanting the purple-haired boy to make the decision. Shadow hummed as he thought for a moment. He _had_ wanted to spend a day with Vio, but… it was a celebration… so…

“Oh, alright. But if you come, Blue and Green have to come too.” Red gasped in excitement before taking off into the house. Blue casually walked up to the others.

“Great.” He puffed, “Now I have to help him up the rope course.” Shadow smirked at Blue.

“You’re welcome,” the boy in black commented before pivoting and walking towards the playground. He raised his right hand above his head, snapped, and then pointed forward. Vio sighed.

“See you up there,” he called back to Blue as he followed Shadow. The boys, with some difficulty (Shadow still had his parasol and Vio still had the basket and blanket) worked their way up the rope course as Blue went inside to help Red persuade Green that a picnic _was_ absolutely necessary.

“Wow,” Shadow breathed in astonishment as he stood at the top of the Crowe’s Nest, “this is perfect.” The circular floor he stood on exactly matched the length of the white blanket Vio had brought. The wood paneling that served as a fence around the perimeter was high enough to feel safe looking over it, but low enough for Shadow to comfortably rest his arms on. A slide let out from one of the walls, but Vio showed Shadow that there was a circular disc of wood that one could put in place to cover the plastic chute, so there would be no worries of accidentally leaning too far back.

“Have I never shown you this before?” Vio asked as he lay the blanket out.

“No, every time I asked, I couldn’t go outside.” Shadow spun his parasol, “but I can see why you like it here so much.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice. Can you help me spread this out?” Shadow moved to help his closest teammate. They had just finished when three voices broke the peaceful silence.

“I didn’t need help; I’ve climbed that rope course a bunch of times before.” Red pouted as he stepped onto the wood floor.

“Hey! You were the one complaining about how hard it was! What did you _think_ I would do?” Blue shouted as he began pulling himself up.

“To be fair, you could’ve asked if he _wanted_ help before carrying him over your shoulder up here.” Green called from somewhere below the other two.

“Nobody asked you!” Blue turned and shouted over the edge of the entrance to the Crowe’s Nest. Shadow made eye-contact with Vio and shook his head.

“You get used to it,” the wise Link reassured the newest teammate as he began unpacking the basket. It wasn’t long until the other four had sat down; Shadow to Vio’s right, Red between Shadow and Blue, and Green to Vio’s left.

“So,” Green began, rubbing his hands together, “what’s for lunch?” Shadow smiled at his teammates.

“It’s a regular meal from the Shadow Realm: black forest ham sandwiches with black forest cake for dessert.” Red smiled gleefully.

“That sounds great!” He began. After a moment of thought, he suddenly asked, “What’s it like living in the Shadow Realm?” Vio gave Red a warning look. “What? It’s a legitimate question!” Shadow chuckled as he began passing out the food.

“Tell you what, if you can hold your breath for a whole minute, I’ll tell you.” Vio slapped Shadow across the back of his head.

“Play nice or we won’t be doing this again anytime soon.” Red, who had already counted to 10, gasped from both excitement and lack of air.

“Can we really do this again? This is fun!” Vio chuckled. He leaned over to tousle Red’s hair (forcing Shadow to lean back slightly) before responding.

“Sure. We’ll do this again, but let’s finish this food before we make plans for next time.”

It had been 6 months since the incident, but now, looking around as his fellow colors, and one monochrome, bickered and argued and laughed, Green couldn’t help but smile lovingly.

“What are you smirking about?” Vio asked him, detaching himself from the argument about nonsense that occurred to his right. Green’s face only brightened more.

“With all that’s happened, Vio, days like this can still occur. That’s enough to smile for, right?” The corner of Vio’s mouth twitched upwards.

“Well then, Mr. Philosopher. You get to cook next time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for taking the time to read my first ever fanfiction!
> 
> Please, please, PLEASE leave a comment with any kind of tips/comments/questions. I really want to get better at this so my next fanfiction (I promised a friend of mine I'd write her a Soul Eater fanfiction. By "Promised", I mean I lost a bet. It'll be my first real attempt at a one-shot.) is even better.
> 
> Again, I'd like to thank my pre-readers for putting up with me and (occasionally) pre-reading. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
